Becoming Swan
by Maaya
Summary: Complete. A story in Relena’s point of view as she realizes that someone else has taken the place she wanted in Heero’s heart, and how she finds something new. HxR, 1x2
1. Becoming Swan

Yadda, yadda, yadda. Don't have anything to tell you, so just on with the fic, okay? Dunno about it, but I just wanted to write this damned thing.  
  
Relena POV *gasp* A second timer for me. I tried to make her slightly sarcastic and probably OOC in this, instead of the whiny little girl she is often portrayed as.  
  
H+R, mention of 1+2, PG-rating, maybe even G. Oneshot.  
  
Summary: A story from Relena's POV, when she realizes that someone else has taken the place she wanted in Heero's heart, and how she finds something new.  
  
*******  
  
Becoming Swan by Maaya  
  
*******  
  
"Thank you."  
  
The maid who had handed me a cup of tea, Earl Grey to be precise, nodded towards me with a slight smile on her lips before walking out of the door. Finally in private, I took a careful sip from the cup and smiled at the familiar taste, it warmed me up inside and filled me with a feeling of that I was home, not in a hotel room in London with maids that were too prompt and willing to please the 'former queen of the world'.  
  
They would probably want to pack up my things, but I had (hopefully) made it clear that I would do it myself, later. The exhaustion I felt from flying from USA to South America, and then to London without resting or eating anything else other than the horrid plane-food must have showed in my face though, as someone had been quick to order me a cup of tea to take too my room and relax with.  
  
I hate it. To not be able to order things for myself, I mean. Not being able to even know the name of the one who ordered me the tea. Not being able to care for myself. I'm pretty sure that if I'd order someone to pick up a handkerchief I dropped; they would arrive and save me without hesitation. Probably with a smile on their lips too.  
  
I feel like I don't have any control of my life anymore. When you are twenty years old you'd expect a person to be able to be rather independent, or at least expect other people to believe that, how childish you might ever be.  
  
When I was younger, I painted an image of how I wanted to be in my mind. An image of how perfect I wanted to be and how proud I wanted to make my parents for having that nice little girl who were so helpful and willing to please. I read too many cheap books about adventures and mysteries, and beautiful, brave heroines. I was naïve. Very naïve.  
  
It all led me to believe that I was as brave as the characters in those books and that I was so perfect and had that I was fond of adventures.  
  
I wasn't. Actually, I hated it.  
  
When I was fifteen years old, I met a young boy who lay on the beach, dressed in a space-suit. He was unconscious but woke up before the ambulance (that I had called) arrived. When he woke up, he asked me if I had seen it. At first I didn't understand what 'it' was but after a while realization dawned upon me and I figured that he mean his face.  
  
I felt like I was in the prologue of an exciting book.  
  
It was when my foster father died that I realized that war was not a game, and that the world was cruel. It hit me like a blow and made me feel trapped in people's expectations of that I would be strong and do was what best for everyone.  
  
I understood that I had been stupid to paint that image of myself and to keep that façade for so long.  
  
With an abrupt move, I stood up and poured the tea out into the small hand basin in the bathroom. It felt like a victory for me to ignore something 'they' had given me. A small, childish victory, but a victory nevertheless, and I hung on to that small satisfaction with desperate arms as I watched the brownish liquid disappear.  
  
I'm pathetic, am I not?  
  
I turned around only to be met by the sight of the suitcase still filled with my clothes as it lay there on my bed and I decided to go outside for a while before unpacking it.  
  
Rather than walking through the lobby and probably be followed by a nosy reported, I took the fire escape. It was a small metal stairs that I could reach from the window. Thankfully, it was a window with view over a small alley, not towards the streets. I didn't like the idea of that hundreds of people would see the vice-foreign minister escaped by way of the fire escape.  
  
I dressed in something rather casual, or at least more casual than the business suits in different colors that I usually wear, meaning I dressed in a light violet skirt and a blue blouse. I let my hair hang loose around my shoulders instead of wearing it in a pony tail at the base of my neck like I usually do.  
  
Perfect.  
  
It wasn't hard at all to climb down that stair, but a slight wave of dizziness hit me when my eyes fell on the ground below me when I was only halfway down. Firmly determined as I was though, I ignored it and forced my eyes upwards again and didn't let them drop until I was safe on the ground again.  
  
Of course, they just *had* to place me on the fifteenth floor.  
  
I found myself in the alley between two high buildings. It was dark and also rather dirty, so I emerged from there as quickly as I could but as soon as I was out in the sun light again, something ran into me from the left. We tumbled over each other, desperately trying to keep standing and not knock the other of his or hers feet.  
  
By the time we were ready, I was seeing stars.  
  
"..sorry miss, you okay?" Someone drawled to me in an all too familiar American accent and I couldn't believe my ears. How big was the chance that I would run into a former gundam pilot during a business meeting in London anyway?  
  
"..ojou-san!?"  
  
Well, now he had recognized me. Sighing, softly so he wouldn't hear, I looked up at him.  
  
Okay, I can admit that I was surprised at what I saw. It *was* Duo Maxwell, just as I had suspected, but it wasn't the teenager I remembered from four years ago. He had gone through his puberty all right, and he had hit his growth spurt. He was actually two inches taller than me and his shoulders were broader than I had remembered them to be. The braid was still swaying back and forth behind his back like a living tail and maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought the braid was maybe some couple of shades lighter than before.  
  
He was still wearing black in the form of jeans and a jacket, and his eyes that were now wide of surprise at seeing me, were darker with more blue and grey mixed together with that violet. I admit that I thought he was handsome.  
  
Okay, more than handsome.  
  
"Duo Maxwell?" The surprised gasp went past my lips before I could stop it and I flushed slightly. "What are you doing here? Where's Heero?"  
  
Now he snorted, probably at the mention of his boyfriend. I realized that he had been expecting me to ask about Heero. "He's still in USA, working with that Preventers mission."  
  
I felt how my blush deepened. I kept in contact with Heero, as a friend I might add, and I knew from a long time back that they were together in a romantic way. I never realized until now that I had never met Duo much, only seen him on occasions and almost never talked to him.  
  
I've never liked him much. He's.. well.. so honest, I guess. And he never takes me seriously. He was the one who saw through my perfect façade and he even mocked it slightly back in the old days.  
  
I can forgive, but I cannot forget.  
  
"Oh." My voice sounded weak, even to my own ears. "Then.. what are you doing here?"  
  
"Visiting Hilde. She works here as a mechanic for the time being. Well, what are *you* doing here, and in those clothes?"  
  
"Am I forbidden to wear these clothes?" I sounded more bitter than intended.  
  
He looked rather surprised. "No, not at all. It's just.."  
  
"Not my usual style, you mean?" I finished for him and he actually looked slightly embarrassed.  
  
"Well, you know what I mean, don't you? Sorry."  
  
Since I decided not to answer him, we stood there in silence for a while before he got impatient and interrupted it.  
  
"You never answered my question, did you?"  
  
"No."  
  
We were quiet for another moment, during which I realized that I had stains from something brown on my blouse. Inwardly, I swore.  
  
Suddenly, he was ginning and I couldn't help but grin at the abrupt change in his expression.  
  
"Tell you what." He said. "Hilde wouldn't mind if you came along for lunch with us. In fact, she would love it. She often talks about how you met."  
  
I didn't really know what to say. In a short moment, I remembered Hilde - the tom-boyish girl who'd stolen data in order to help Duo and the rest of the pilots. A melancholy smile reached my lips as I remembered out short meeting onboard Milliardo's.. no.. Zechs' ship. We had understood each other nicely and had not questioned each other's choices, in words and otherwise. It could actually be fun to see her again, I decided, so I forced the melancholy away from my face and agreed to come with Duo.  
  
*******  
  
He led me to a small café/restaurant with friendly owners. Duo and the girl behind the counter spoke to each other in a way that made me suspect that they knew each other quite well, (although it's beyond me why he knew someone in London) and it made me feel left out as they laughed at various 'inside-jokes' I didn't understand in the slightest.  
  
I fiddled with the front of my blouse and realized that the stain was from coffee.  
  
Coffee. I never drink coffee, in fact I hate it.  
  
So how could I have a coffee-stain on the front of my blouse?  
  
"Duo!"  
  
My head snapped up just in time to see an older Hilde run over to Duo and practically floor him as she flung herself on to him and hugged him hard. He had to lean himself against the counter so he wouldn't fall, I'm sure of it.  
  
"Hil!" He exclaimed happily and hugged her tight. "Are you well?"  
  
"Of course I am!"  
  
"Guess who I ran into right now?"  
  
They finally let go of each other and Hilde spotted me.  
  
"Relena-sama?" She asked, surprised.  
  
I smiled politely. "I'm afraid that's me. Nice to meet you miss."  
  
"Oh, cut it out please." She surprised me by saying that and she waved with her right hand. "Just call me Hilde. Can I call you Relena?"  
  
"Hilde and Relena, sounds good." I smiled once again.  
  
She looked at me strangely before asking. "What are you doing here in London?"  
  
"Business meeting."  
  
"Hey!" Duo broke in and glared at me in mock anger. "How come you answered when she asked and not when I did?"  
  
I didn't know what to answer, but Hilde saved me right in time.  
  
"I was probably much more polite, Duo." Hilde grinned self-satisfied. "Face it, Maxwell; I'm just sooo much better than you are!"  
  
I swear, by my soul, that Duo stuck out his tongue towards her in a childish sort of gesture. I noticed that he had pierced it, but since Hilde didn't seem surprised I assumed that he had done it long ago.  
  
Instead, she answered by sticking out her own tongue at him.  
  
"Uhh, shouldn't we order something?" I, the peacemaker, broke into their tongue-contest with waving hands.  
  
*******  
  
The lunch with Duo and Hilde was.. special, that much I learned.  
  
Their conversations could vary from how many petals an ox-eye daisy really had, to if the new project about building another new L2 colony was a good idea or not - and believe me, there's a lot between those two subjects to talk about. It resulted in that we stayed there for over three hours.  
  
Not that I complained or anything, I had the press to deal with and a suitcase to unpack back at the hotel after all.  
  
Something that confused me, was that Duo and Hilde continued to order in new food continually during those three hours - they were like bottomless pits and I did also tell them that. They just laughed.  
  
"Well, maybe Duo is, but I'm certainly not." Hilde grinned and was rewarded with a cherry (from Duo's pastry) on the top of her nose. Her grin changed into a glare. "That was just sooo childish!"  
  
Maybe it was, but you had to admire Duo's aim.  
  
Duo ignored her and continued to eat his now cherry-less pastry.  
  
My eyes quickly scanned through the room to see anyone had seen the flying food. Luckily, no one had. My eyes returned to my table-mates and I realized that Hilde was staring at me, incredulously.  
  
She raised one finger to point at me. "Do you know." She said. "That you just scanned through the room like any gundam pilot who are in an unfamiliar territory?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"You know, when they search for possible danger?"  
  
"Oh." I blushed. "I was just looking if anyone had seen Duo throw the cherry."  
  
Duo snickered down into his whipped cream and small bits from it flow up into his face.  
  
Hilde laughed, but I'm not sure if it was at me or Duo.  
  
The short-haired girl looked at me strangely. I suddenly realized that she had done that more than once during this lunch and I squirmed in my chair until she understood what she was doing and let her eyes drop.  
  
"Jesus!"  
  
Both of us looked up at the same time when we heard Duo's surprised gasp.  
  
"I have a plane to catch, gotta go, NOW! Bye!"  
  
We watched, rather startled as Duo put on his jacket, grabbed his bag and then ran out of the café. The door fell closed behind him and we stared as it bounced open again and again before finally settling down.  
  
"Strange." Hilde muttered and looked down at her clock. "I could've swore on that his plane don't leave in at least three hours."  
  
"Maybe you're mistaken." I offered and it was quiet for a while.  
  
Maybe I had laid the blouse on a coffee-stained table once? Yes, that must be it!  
  
I stood up. "I should probably get going too. I have the press waiting for me back at the hotel."  
  
"Oh, all right." Hilde stood up too and brushed away some bread crumbles from her lap. "Do you need help to find your hotel? I guess you aren't very familiar with this town yet."  
  
I realized that I probably *did* need help and once again I blushed. "Could you..?"  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
We went outside together and for the first time I really looked around in London. It was a quite nice town, not too big and not too small. I said this to her.  
  
"Yes, it's rather good, isn't it? I like it." She grinned, before sobering again and looked down at the asphalt in front of her. "Are you okay with Duo and Heero?"  
  
The question took me by surprise. "Yes, I guess I am. I was surprised at first but now I'm okay with it."  
  
"Me too." She raised her eyes again. "Did you know that I worked for OZ?"  
  
"You did?!"  
  
"Yes, but then I met Duo and he changed my mind for me." She smiled fondly. "And I who thought that the hero was supposed to fall in love with the girl he saved."  
  
"Guess we were both cheated on our heroes, weren't we?"  
  
"You can say that, yes. What an irony."  
  
I sighed dreamily. "Fairy tales just aren't supposed to be true."  
  
"No." She agreed. "In this fairy tale the heroes fell in love with each other."  
  
"And the maidens were left alone to mourn." I added.  
  
Hilde looked at me strangely again and I shrugged without saying anything. She led me back to our hotel in silence and I glared at the front door in disgust.  
  
"There are probably journalists in there, waiting for me to arrive so they can interview me about whatever they now want to know."  
  
"About what you said." She looked at me and I realized that she was slightly taller than me. "The thing about how the maidens were left alone to mourn."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Well, isn't the best revenge for the maidens to get together then too?"  
  
Then she kissed me.  
  
At first I was too shocked to respond. She was not like kissing a boy, but it was certainly not unpleasant.  
  
In fact, it was rather good.  
  
I kissed back, and she put a hand behind my head to steady me as she deepened the kiss.  
  
Actually, I really, really liked it.  
  
*******  
  
One-sided phone-call heard in an air-port:  
  
"Heero?"  
  
"Wufei, can you please give the phone to Heero?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Hi!"  
  
"Yes, I'm okay."  
  
"The plane is leaving in three hours."  
  
"Oh, I left them alone. It wasn't hard to find Relena; she was actually climbing down the fire-escape."  
  
"I don't know what possessed her!"  
  
"Yes, she went with me to meet Hilde. I think she liked her well enough."  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"I'll call Hilde later when she doesn't want to castrate me and will thank me instead."  
  
"Yes, I'll tell her it was your idea."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Yes. Love you too! Bye."  
  
*******  
  
The End  
  
*******  
  
Phew. *wipes sweaty forehead.* Eight pages, I who only planned on two or three.. 


	2. Dates Part 1

Since I've suddenly realised that I *like* H+R after writing 'Becoming Swan', I decided to write a sequel. ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. Understood? Good.  
  
To Asuka Kureru, because you really seemed to like the prequel to this story. I'm afraid I won't write any lemons because.. I'm very bad at writing them.. but please enjoy anyway. ^_^  
  
Hilde POV, OOC, shouji ai, *shrugs* I think it's strange too but I'm not sure..  
  
I think some of you misunderstood my intentions with the fic. Actually, I didn't have any intentions with it. ^_^ I mean, come on! Why should I write a story about Hilde and Relena because I feel sorry for them? How many people actually do that?  
  
*******  
  
Dates by Maaya  
  
*******  
  
I wanted to kill him.  
  
Scratch that.  
  
I wanted to castrate him with a spoon and force-feed his balls to Heero. Why a spoon, you might ask. Well, a spoon is dull and it would take a very long time to use it for that kind of purpose. Much better than using a sharp knife if you ask me. I was never one to show mercy whilst being angry, I guess.  
  
Now, though, I might as well have to thank him.  
  
Damnit.  
  
I lay on my stomach in the small (and not very comfortable) bed I kept in my apartment and glared at the small, plastic cell-phone that lay beside me on the mattress, as if I really expected it to come up with an excuse and an apology to give me all by itself. The thought was absurd, I know, but seemed realistic at the time. I had bought the cell-phone from a guy in the repair shop for only two pounds but I regret it now. 'In perfect condition' he had said and smiled in what he seemed to think was a persuading manner. Now, afterwards, I snorted at the thought of that the phone had ever been in a perfect condition. Not very likely, if you ask me.  
  
To cheer myself up, I let my thoughts wander until they met the pleasing memory of mine and Relena's kiss. God, how nervous I had been, and confused at the same time. Duo had quickly disappeared and it hadn't taken me long to understand that it was intentional to leave us alone like that. I knew I shouldn't have told him about my secret admiration of Relena.  
  
Relena and I had parted after the kiss, with promises that I would call her later. It was because of the press - she knew as well as I that the reporters would probably have come up with an 'exceptional' and 'intriguing' story about how the vice foreign minister sneaks out of her hotel to meet an old friend of hers.. or was it girlfriend now?  
  
I growled at myself and tried to sort everything out.  
  
Okay, one. She responded to my kiss.  
  
Two. She wanted me to call.  
  
Three. She smiled at me.  
  
Four. She didn't slap me.  
  
It just has to be good, doesn't it? So, do I have the right to call her a girlfriend now?  
  
Rolling over to lay on my back, I sighed up into my bangs so that they became tousled against my forehead. They were always that way, both when I was in zero-g and when I was not. They just seemed to ignore all laws of physics, for the mere purpose of lying in as unnatural angles as possible.  
  
"Cut it Schbeiker!" I told myself firmly, and the loudness of my own voice almost made me jump. "Just call her and sort everything out 'together' with her!"  
  
I glared at the phone again. The perfectly clean.. thing, seemed to mock me and I snarled at it, knowing all too well that the plastic cover would fall in two parts as soon as I got my wits together and decided to finally pick it up.  
  
What's wrong with me? I had just kissed the girl of my dreams and she hadn't slapped me, but kissed me back instead and the only thing I felt was frustration.  
  
Wasn't I supposed to fly and bounce in happiness?  
  
Don't get me wrong - I was happy all right, but I think that the fact that we had parted so soon afterwards made me feel like this.  
  
Kiss and part huh? Not exactly my style.  
  
Actually, I'm not sure what my style really *is*, since I haven't been together with anyone for a very long time, neither boy nor a girl. Still, I feel like I wanted to stay with her just a while longer.  
  
Is that too much to ask?  
  
Okay, I admit it. I was nervous. Just don't go and scream it to the whole wide world, okay? Being nervous makes me cranky, and that is probably the reason to why I am being so depressed right now.  
  
A bang fell down into my left eye and I lifted an impatient hand to wipe it away.  
  
I wonder if she is feeling the same.. if she is sitting at whatever meeting she is having right now and dreams about me..?  
  
I really, really hope so.  
  
And now I am being a complete sap.  
  
I finally reached out and grabbed the phone with one hand and dialed Duo's number. Not too surprisingly, the cover broke in the edges, but my hand prevented the parts from falling in two.  
  
It suddenly hit me that there were three sixes in a row in Duo's number and in that moment I seemed to find it very amusing - since it was the devil's number. By the time the signals were heard, I lay on my stomach again, clutching it with a hand in a pathetic try to stop the laughter way. You know what? Laughing is great when you're nervous. Never mind that it was for a pathetic reason.  
  
One signal..  
  
Two signals..  
  
"Hi, this is Maxwell's automatic cell phone-answerer. If your name happens to be Relena or Hilde, please give a message after the 'sorry..'"  
  
I didn't know whatever I should laugh or cry.  
  
"Duo, stop it." My voice sounded harsher than intended and I could imagine how he winced, closing one eye and having a pained expression in his face.. sometimes I think I know him all to well.  
  
Thankfully, he stopped.  
  
"Um.. Hi, Hilde. Everything okay?"  
  
I didn't answer his question immediately, mostly because I'm evil, and I wanted him to float in uncertainness for at least a while longer. "You didn't really have a plane to catch, did you?"  
  
I heard him snort in the other end. "Of course I did. You know me - I never lie, it's just that.. well.. the plane doesn't leave in the next hour.."  
  
"So you are still on the airport?"  
  
"You could say that, yes."  
  
Now it was my turn to snort. "You are an idiot." I didn't really feel angry, but.. but.. I don't know. I can't explain how I felt. Nervous, I've already told you. Uncertain? Helpless? Too happy than I had ever imagined that I would ever be?  
  
"Hey, it was Heero's idea!" He replied in defense of himself and I lost the thread for a moment when I realized what he had just said.  
  
"Heero's!?"  
  
"Yes, Heero-the-matchmaker. Kinda makes you question whatever you really know him or not."  
  
There was a moment of quietness before Duo spoke up again, now sounding far more serious, and almost.. gentle. He seemed genuinely curious, however.  
  
"Hey, Hil.. did everything turn out okay?"  
  
I sighed softly. "Yes, I.. kissed her and.. she kissed back."  
  
I can swear that I heard a relieved sigh at the other end of the line.  
  
"Phew. That's great news. Why do you sound so sad then?"  
  
There, I hesitated for a while, since I understood that my reply would probably sound very darn stupid.  
  
"I.. we.. parted at the hotel. I promised to call and.. I'm not sure what I should say." The last words were blurted out in a sudden rush of words and it felt like they tumbled over each other in the haste.  
  
It got quiet again and I knew without doubt that I had taken him by surprise.  
  
"Who.." He said after a while. "Who are you and what have you done with Hilde Schbeiker?"  
  
"Duo, you know it's me." I said impatiently and frowned. This really wasn't a time when I wanted to hear him joke. "Stop, I'm serious."  
  
"How many socks of mine did Hilde discolour during the war?" He asked, dead serious, but I knew that if I could see him, his eyes would probably sparkle mischievously.  
  
I sighed. "Three." Are men ever completely serious in important things? Things that don't involve gundams, I mean.  
  
"Okay, I believe you. You really *are* Hilde."  
  
"Thank you for your trust." Rolling my eyes, I snorted as loud as I could so I would be certain that he heard me. What? He can't see my eye-rolling so somehow he has to understand that I was sarcastic. "Now, can you *please* help me a little? Should I invite her for a date?"  
  
"Sure, why not?"  
  
"Well.." I was growing impatient by his lack of help, and I'm sure that it was heard in my voice as I continued. "Where should we go then? A coffee- shop? Club? Museum? A park?"  
  
"Why not give her a tour in London?" He interrupted my rambling by saying. "Tell her to dress casually so she won't be recognized. Visit Madame Tussauds, Tower Bridge, buy an ice-cream, take a walk in a park somewhere.. I don't know! Just do *something*. It's not what you're doing that is the important, it's that you doing it *together* that is!" He paused, and when he finally continued, he spoke in a much quieter and calmer voice. Actually, he was whispering. "Uh, Hilde? People are beginning to give me weird looks, I think I have to go now.."  
  
I, being the evil woman and friend I am, laughed at him. "Sure.. and Duo?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I really hate to say this.. but thanks." I wasn't sure if I thanked him for leaving me and Relena alone, or for cheering me up right now or if I thanked for both, but I could hear the grin in his voice as he answered.  
  
"No problem Hil. Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
It clicked and became quiet in the other end of the phone and I pushed a button on my own cell phone before throwing it to lie on the pillow at the end of my bed. The cover finally parted in two, but I decided to ignore it for the time being.  
  
A tour in London.  
  
It was actually a rather good idea - not too wild and not too calm. The thing about an ice-cream sounded good too. An as in 'one' ice-cream.. if I suggest that to Relena, she'd probably blush. She's just too adorable sometimes, isn't she?  
  
I lay there on the bed for a while, occupied with the thought of a sweetly blushing Relena dressed in that skirt and blouse with brown stains on. I wonder if she really realized that the stains were there. I giggled at the thought. Poor Relena - walking around in London with a dirty blouse.  
  
What do I actually like with Relena? I asked myself and stared up at the ceiling. It had exactly three spots, probably from moisture or something like that.  
  
Well, she's nice and thoughtful. Smart and has a way with words to make everything sound as good as possible. I also have this feeling of that she understands me, the way I think I understands her. When we met, she told me that I was brave, but she is too. Very much so.  
  
Furthermore, she's good-looking and pretty. Somehow, she keeps a special kind of innocence, even though she has experienced two wars, and I admire her for that.  
  
Standing up, I tousled my bangs even more with my hand as I lifted them to cool my forehead off. It is always warm in my apartment for some reason and it gets on my nerves. One day I'll probably walk around naked in here. Laugh all you want, but it is a real possibility.  
  
I went to looks at myself in the bath-room mirror.  
  
My appearance hasn't changed very much through the years. Okay, I have grown and I have filled out more, but despite that I'm mostly the same. My hair had the same colour and I keep it in the same style as I had during the war. My face was only the very slightest bit thinner than before and my eyes are exactly the same. My ears were pierced since a while back, I pierced them at the same time as Duo did it with his tongue, though I only have one pair of ear-rings; gold-coloured ones, but I suspect that they are really made of some kind of cheap metal. Fancy jewel isn't exactly my style.  
  
I decided to finally call Relena. I held my breath when I dialed the number and didn't dare to let it out as I waited for an answer.  
  
The first signal had barely made itself hear when someone answered in a breathless voice. "Yes?"  
  
I hesitated. "Relena?" My voice sounded stifled when I finally allowed myself to breath again and I wanted to hit my head against the wall. I sounded stupid, plain and simple.  
  
"Hilde?"  
  
"Yeah, it's me. How are you doing?"  
  
"Fine, the meeting has just ended."  
  
"It lasted for two hours?! How did you survive?" My earlier nervousness had vanished into thin air as I had found something to talk about. Now I felt good.. really good actually. I could remember our meetings at *my* job. They usually lasted for about fifteen minutes, until one of the guys realized that there was something they were missing on TV, or that a football game had just started, and we had to end.  
  
"Don't know." She groaned and laughed at the same time. "It killed my back and neck to sit straight like that for two hours. Can't understand why they refuse to buy new chairs."  
  
"Your butt must be really numb." I laughed. "Poor baby."  
  
"You're teasing me." She remarked calmly.  
  
"Yes, I am. Jokes aside, are you up for a date? Tomorrow?"  
  
"Sure." I'm certain that she sounded happy. "When and where?"  
  
"I thought about giving you a tour of London." I paused to see what her reaction was, and it didn't disappoint me.  
  
"Really? That'd be lovely! Where should we meet?"  
  
"How about if I pick you up outside your hotel? Two o'clock, if that's okay by you?"  
  
"How should I dress?"  
  
"Casually." I told her and grinned. I'm not sure why, but it felt as if it was really 'Relena' to ask about such a thing, especially since the only thing we were going to do was to walk around in London. "Jeans and a t- shirt are fine enough."  
  
"Understood." She paused. "I'll probably be climbing down the fire-escape."  
  
Okayyy.. fire-escape. 'Nothing strange with that, huh?' I thought ironically to myself. Everyday thing, sure. I didn't say that though, instead I decided to voice my confusion with a mere. "Why?"  
  
"If I'll go through the lobby, they'll recognize me."  
  
"Oh." I didn't have to ask who 'them' were, since it was obvious that she meant the press. It hit me that she was like a prisoner in her hotel room, like a modern Rapunzel. "And then the whole world would know about us."  
  
I hade made it sound like a joke, but there was an underlying question in it. Holding my breath, I waited for her answer.  
  
"..then there is such a thing as 'us'?" I couldn't read the tone she spoke in. Was it fear? Hope? Happiness? Embarrassment? All of it mixed together?  
  
"I hope so." I told her uncertainly. "I know it came to you rather sudden.. but I have liked you for a very long time. Well, I have at least admired you for a very long time." I wasn't sure when that admiration had changed into something deeper, but Duo had seemingly noticed.  
  
"It came sudden.. but it helped me to sort some things out. I want to try." Her voice was calm enough for me to grab onto some of it and I relaxed slightly.  
  
A new and strong feeling of happiness filled me, akin to the one I felt earlier today when I kissed Relena, and I felt how a stupid smile stretched out wider and wider in my cheeks. "Maybe there'll be an 'us' after tomorrow."  
  
*******  
  
TBC  
  
******* 


	3. Dates Part 2

Since I've suddenly realised that I *like* H+R after writing 'Becoming Swan', I decided to write a sequel. ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. Understood? Good.  
  
To Asuka Kureru, because you really seemed to like the prequel to this story. I'm afraid I won't write any lemons because.. I'm very bad at writing them.. but please enjoy anyway. ^_^  
  
Hilde POV, OOC, shoujo ai, *shrugs* I think it's strange too but I'm not sure..  
  
Current Music: "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin.  
  
*******  
  
Dates - Part 2 by Maaya  
  
*******  
  
I didn't have to wait long outside the hotel before I could see a figure, clad in blue jeans and a tight, white t-shirt, and with honey blonde hair hanging loose around her shoulders, step out on the landing of the fire- escape. She paused for a while in which she seemed to spot me, and a hand came up to wave to me.  
  
I smiled and waved back.  
  
Soon, she was standing on the safe ground again, and I skidded towards her, feeling strangely light-hearted and happy. "Hi, Rel!"  
  
The object of my affections looked up, surprised and happy at the same time, it seemed. "Rel?" She asked as we stepped out of the alley together.  
  
"Yes." I grinned at her. "Rel. Can I call you that?"  
  
"Of course." She smiled, but it changed into a giggle quickly enough. "Should I call you Hil, like Duo does? We'd become Hil and Rel then."  
  
Snorting softly, I threw a careless hand around her shoulders. She had a mix of surprise and satisfaction in her face. "And risk to be laughed down?"  
  
Relena didn't reply to that, but I could see how her own laughter sparkled in her eyes, and I noticed how her lips went upwards ever so slightly at the corners. I grinned back at her.  
  
My nervousness and bad mood from yesterday evening had vanished into thin air and suddenly I felt very care-free and happy.  
  
She hauled me out of my thoughts by asking, "Where are we going?"  
  
"Where do you want to go?" I replied back and played with the hem of my wide, blue t-shirt as we walked down the street close to each other. I could feel her warmth radiating from her body, so close was we. Confusion seemed to play a big part of my mind right then, were we supposed to go as friends of lovers?  
  
"What can you do in London?" She replied and leaned in a little closer to me.  
  
"Are we going to continue to answer each other's questions with own questions?"  
  
"Do you want to?"  
  
"Do you?"  
  
"Wasn't I the first one to ask?" She said and I gave up and hit her arm.  
  
"Okay, I loose. Don't think I can win anything today, can I?"  
  
"No." She replied simply, but I could see the smile she tried to hide by dusking her head. I've noticed that she does that rather often - hide her smiles I mean. Put a hand over her mouth, duck her head, turn away.. I don't know why, but she does that a lot, mostly after teasing someone. It's if like she was afraid of hurting someone by smiling.  
  
Since she never answered my earlier question about where she wanted to go, we just walked around on the streets for a while and window-shopped and talked. Subject after subject came and disappeared again, but I swear to God that we didn't talk about anything deeper than if 'Duo pierced his tongue because he wanted it, or because Heero wanted it.' Most of it was girlish ramble among friends, if you get what I mean.  
  
"Oh, God, look at that dress."  
  
"It's horrid."  
  
"I know, but it's pink.."  
  
"Don't you dare think about buying it!"  
  
"Did I say I would?"  
  
"Well, no.. but you had that glint in your eyes.."  
  
"What glint?"  
  
"The one from yesterday, when you looked after people who had seen the cherry-scene."  
  
"Is cherry-scene a word?"  
  
"Don't know."  
  
*******  
  
A while of aimless walking around in London, using the subway if needed, found us suddenly standing in the middle of Baker Street. Since I knew a great pub there with wonderful filled baguettes, I led Relena into it and ordered one each. The only occupants in the pub were a gang of middle-aged men, who were watching football on the TV that was tastefully placed in a small corner.  
  
We settled in another corner, as far away from the TV as possible and began to nibble on our breads, while talking and relaxing.  
  
"Why do I recognize the name Baker Street?" Relena asked after a moment during which she had been very quiet and thoughtful. "I know it from somewhere, but can't remember where!"  
  
I swallowed a large mouthful of bread with lettuce and ham, making it sound loud and disgusting enough to make even Duo proud. "Let me give you a clue. Sherlock Holmes?"  
  
For a second, she sat clueless, and I could practically see how the wheels turned inside her head until she realized what I meant.  
  
"Oh, yes, that's right - this is where he lived, right?"  
  
"Not exactly." I replied and sipped on my coke. "He lived at 221b, but this is the right street. I think there is a Holmes-museum further down the street."  
  
Relena's eyes lit up and her whole face brightened visibly. "Really? Can we take a look at it?"  
  
Who can resist such puppy eyes?  
  
I admit that her enthusiasm surprise me - she didn't seem to be the type to read good old Sherlock Holmes books, but I guess that appearances are deceptive.  
  
When we had eaten, we left the pub to find the museum, and it was harder than any of us had ever believed. When you hear the word 'museum' you automatically think about a wide front door, at least three meters high. I do, and I think Relena does so too because she looked as surprised as I felt when we saw the small doorway that was supposedly the entry.  
  
I have only read a few stories about Sherlock Holmes and I've seen quite many movies, but the museum was still quite interesting. It was decorated in old English style and here and there you could see statues and dolls doing things they apparently did in the books. It was impressive, and Relena was in ecstasy, bouncing around in the room like an overgrown schoolgirl - not at all like it was fitting for the vice-foreign minister.  
  
Her energy passed on to me too and we did probably both look rather childish as we tried to write in the most 'English handwriting' as we signed the guestbook. Don't ask me how it would look, because I have no idea.  
  
Just as we were done with the guestbook a woman, dressed like an old English maid, came up to us.  
  
"Excuse me miss." She said to me. "Would you like to have a picture taken?"  
  
Neither I nor Relena understood what she meant, and it must have showed in our faces because the maid showed us to a small coffee-table and told us to sit down in two armchairs. I grabbed a Sherlock Holmes hat that lie on the table and put it on, before grinning towards the woman who held a camera in her hands now. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Relena hesitate for a moment before taking a Watson-hat and put it on, with an adorably happy blush staining her face.  
  
"Interesting Watson." I told her with played seriousness and tapped the pipe I'd found beside the hat against my left cheek, just like I had seen Holmes do in a movie once. "Interesting."  
  
She giggled, and then smiled at the camera as the maid called us to attention.  
  
We bought a photo each, to keep as a memory and I still have mine standing (framed) on the chest of drawers in the living room.  
  
It's a happy memory, something to treasure with a past filled of tragic war- events.  
  
After having our picture taken, we looked around in at the various dolls. I was looking at a man, named Mr. Godfrey Staunton as it appeared from the sign, who was grieving his dead wife. Relena stood beside me and studied Dr. Grimsemby Roylott from 'The Speckled Band', a book that I have read. Suddenly I heard a very unladylike yelp, and the next thing I was aware of was that I held a warm body in my arms, as Relena seemed to have jumped backwards into me, almost knocking us both over.  
  
She was nicely warm in my arms and a faint scent from apple(?) came from her, although I wasn't sure if it was from her shampoo, perfume, or deodorant. I noticed that she was slightly shorter than me and fitted perfectly into my arms.  
  
After a few seconds, she was still there, in my arms, and I wondered if I was dreaming.  
  
Not so. After almost a minute, she worked herself out of my embrace and blushed faintly as she pointed accusingly towards the snake on Roylott's arm.  
  
"It moved."  
  
I stared at it for a moment and could then confirm that she was right. The snake moved its head sometimes and glared with black pearl-eyes.  
  
I couldn't help it.  
  
I laughed at her.  
  
*******  
  
After the 'horrifying' experience at the museum (though it wasn't very horrifying in my opinion) we went to a park, I think it was called Kensington Garden. We walked around on the many small paths and watched the many dogs that ran around free in the grass. There were Golden Retrievers, imposing and with golden brown fur, there were Labradors, swimming in the ponds and there were many of a special kind I didn't recognize, but Relena called Pekinese dogs.  
  
"Still, you wouldn't have to *laugh*, it wasn't all *that* funny." Relena grumbled and hit the crap out of my arm. "It's not *my* fault I wasn't prepared for moving dolls!"  
  
She had still not gotten over that I had laughed at her in the museum, and I don't think the fact that I couldn't even say sorry without grinning helped the matter in the slightest. I knew that she wasn't really angry at me; she just muttered on and on about it to tease me.  
  
I decided to try and make her laugh at me to calm down about it, though. "I'm so, awfully, terribly sorry ma'am. What can I do to make up for my horrible crime?"  
  
"Ehh.." She took me seriously and looked around in the park as if searching for something, and her eyes lingered (in my opinion) too long on a pond. Just as I was about to break out in cold sweat her eyes continued to a man who was selling ice-cream.  
  
I grinned. "Want me to buy an ice-cream, ma'am? Strawberry, chocolate, melon, raspberry..?"  
  
"Strawberry is fine, thanks."  
  
Why am I not surprised? Hell, she even *look* like someone who'd like strawberry.  
  
I bought 'one' ice-cream and returned to where she was standing and waiting. One eye-brow rose elegantly (is it a nobility-secret how to do that or something?) when she noticed the amount of it. "Don't you like ice- cream?"  
  
"Of course I do." I snorted at the mere thought and decided to be blunt. "Everyone likes ice-cream. I'm just expecting to eat from yours."  
  
She blushed. See! Didn't I tell you that she would do that?  
  
"Oh." Rel licked at the strawberry ice-cream and lowered her eyes shyly.  
  
I stared at her red tongue without being able to stop myself. It curved slightly at the tip to be able to catch some cold strawberry-taste on it and she let it stay on the ice-cream longer than it was necessary before picking up a small, small piece and taking it with her into her mouth.  
  
"Relena." I whispered quietly, and I couldn't stop myself. "Can I kiss you?"  
  
Her eyes flow up to study my face and widened slightly before she blushed again. "Can't recall that you asked for permission yesterday."  
  
I took that as a yes.  
  
At the same time as I captured her lips with mine, I also brought a hand up to steady her head when the kiss deepened. She was quite quick to open her mouth for me, but I remained just a little longer on her lips, teasing her and tasting the strawberry-redness.  
  
A small sound of pleasure came from her throat when I finally decided to slide my tongue into her mouth. The taste from strawberries was stronger there, and it was with reluctance when we parted again and stared into each others' eyes.  
  
I suddenly realized that I had an arm around her shoulders, but I didn't let it fall as she leaned in close to me anyway. I took the ice-cream out of her loose grip and tasted it before giving it back again and kiss her.  
  
"Well, is there an 'us' now?" My quietly asked question didn't startle her.  
  
"There is."  
  
I smiled and hugged her close to my body.  
  
"I'm glad."  
  
She kissed me again.  
  
********  
  
The End  
  
********  
  
Now I've finished my H+R fics for a while, but I'm dying for reading someone else's fics with that pairing. Is there anyone who is up to write one, or do you know any good ones? Or some pictures? 


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